• Medical Affairs

  Medical Waiver Program

  Public Health Service officers may have health conditions that make it unsafe for them to deploy or complete some readiness requirements. The purpose of the Medical Waiver Program is to assist the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps implement policies related to medical and force readiness, while, at the same time, reducing the officer’s risk of unintended injury or worsening of an existing medical condition. This program is administered by the Medical Affairs Branch (MAB) within Commissioned Corps Headquarters. Approval of Medical Waiver requests is not guaranteed. MAB has sole discretion of approval and time limitations of all medical waivers.

  Medical waivers are personal exemptions from performing or engaging in one or more of the following activities:

  • Deployment;
  • Receiving one or more immunization;
  • Performance of all or part of the APFT;
  • Meeting weight standards;
  • Maintaining uniform requirements (e.g., beard waivers, shoe waivers);
  • Completing Basic Life Support training; or
  • Fulfilling other requirements necessary for meeting and/or maintaining the Basic level of force readiness.

  Submission of a Medical Waiver Request

  Medical waiver requests should be submitted on the Active Duty and Reserve Corps Medical Waiver Request form (210kb, pdf) with the required medical documentation (e.g. letter, memo, clinic note) from your provider(s) answering the following:

  • What are the officer’s specific disabling medical diagnoses, condition(s) or disabling symptoms?
    • A final diagnosis is not required to request a waiver. If a diagnosis is unknown, please report the symptoms the officer is experiencing or working diagnosis with the associated evaluation, follow-up and treatment plan.
  • How does the condition(s) prohibit the officer from completing readiness requirements including deployments?
  • What is the current management of the officer’s conditions or symptoms, to include diagnostic and/or treatment plan(s)?
  • How long do you expect the medical condition to prevent the officer from deploying or meeting readiness requirements or when is the next reevaluation date, not to exceed 6 months?

  Please have your provider review the Medical Waiver Program instructions attached to the waiver request for additional information.

  Note: If a final diagnosis is unknown, your provider can report the symptoms and how they impact your ability to deploy. Based on these symptoms your provider must request the appropriate waiver and inform us of when we should expect documentation from the specialist or testing/lab work confirming diagnosis.

  The request form and medical documentation must be attached as a single PDF file. Upload the single PDF file in the Medical category of eDOC-U using the document type, “Request for Medical Waiver.” Officers can review their waiver status by:

  1. Going to the Officer Secure Area
  2. Clicking on RDB- Self Service Page link on the left panel
  3. Selecting the Self-service tab
  4. Selecting the Readiness Information drop down
  5. Clicking Waiver tab (#4)

   

  If your Medical Wavier request is rejected, officers should receive a system-generated notification with a summary explanation. Please check your spam folder especially if you do not receive a response within 3 business days. For more information, please contact Medical Affairs at: PHSMACCHQ@hhs.gov

   

  Types of Waivers

  • Temporary time-limited medical waiversmay be granted for a documented health condition that is likely to improve within 12 months, or less, from the date that the request was received by MAB.
  • Permanent long-term renewable medical waiversmay be granted for conditions that are unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future. Examples of this type of waiver are for certain immunizations which are contraindicated in individuals with severe egg allergies or uniform (beard) waivers for individuals with certain chronic dermatologic conditions

  Medical Readiness Categories (MRC)

  MAB uses MRCs to communicate internally to the Readiness and Deployment Branch (RDB) about an Officer’s medical deployment status without disclosing protected health information. Officers may have their MRC adjusted based on medical documentation submitted; occasionally this is done instead of providing a temporary medical waiver per the discretion of MAB. Please check FAQs for further information regarding MRC.

  Clarification of Specific Medical Waivers

  Additional information regarding waivers can also be found within Medical Affairs FAQs

  • Pregnancy: Pregnancy waivers temporarily waives deployment, requirements of all sections of the APFT, weight standards, and live virus vaccinations. Pregnancy waivers end 12 months after anticipated delivery date. Approval requires documentation which includes laboratory confirmation of pregnancy and estimated date of delivery (EDD)
    • The readiness requirements of the annual Periodic Health Update (PHU) and annual seasonal Influenza immunization are NOT waived by the Pregnancy waiver.
    • If an officer’s pregnancy ends prior to 20 weeks gestation, the officer should inform Medical Affairs within 30 days by uploading a Waiver request form with the date the pregnancy ended.

  Please note: As of January 15, 2021, there are significant changes in what is included in a Pregnancy waiver which are summarized below:

   

  Length of Pregnancy	Waiver	Waiver requested January 15, 2021 or prior	Waiver requested after January 16, 2021
  ≥ 20 weeks	Deployment, APFT, BLS, Live virus immunizations	Expires 6 months after estimated date of delivery	Expires 12 months after estimated date of delivery.   NO BLS WAIVER INCLUDED
  	Weight Standards	Expires 6 months after estimated date of delivery with an option for an additional 3 months	Expires 12 months after estimated date of delivery
  	Breastfeeding	Additional 6 months after expiration of Pregnancy waiver (12 months after child’s birthday)	Included in pregnancy waiver, expires 12 months after estimated date of delivery
  < 20 weeks	Deployment, APFT, BLS, Live virus immunizations, Weight standards	Not in Policy	Expires 6 months after termination of pregnancy. NO BLS WAIVER INCLUDED

   

  Pertussis vaccine in the form of Tdap is now recommended during the third trimester of every pregnancy. If an officer’s tetanus immunization expires early in her pregnancy, to avoid being found not basic qualified, the officer should request a tetanus waiver until her third trimester.

  Breastfeeding: If an officer continues to breastfeed after expiration of the Pregnancy waiver at 12 months postpartum, the officer should submit a breastfeeding waiver request (no earlier than one week before expiration of the Pregnancy waiver) and be prepared to deploy. When the waiver is approved, MAB will assist in communicating the officer’s lactation needs (e.g., regular breaks, electricity, refrigeration) during potential deployments to RDB. Breastfeeding waivers will be provided for 5-month intervals, with ability to extend as needed.

  Requests for a full deployment waiver due to breastfeeding will only be considered if there is documentation from a healthcare provider that terminating breastfeeding (not just dietary supplementation which can be done with expressed breastmilk) will significantly adversely affect the health of the officer or her child. Officers should plan to submit a deployment waiver for this request

  Retention Weight Standards: Some medical conditions or treatments can contribute to changes in weight or difficulty gaining or losing weight. When an officer requests a weight standards waiver, his/her healthcare provider must submit to MAB evidence-based data from the scientific literature regarding the effects of the condition or treatment on weight. The officer must also provide a pretreatment weight. If a waiver is granted, the extent of relaxing the standards will be based on the documented effects of the treatment. MAB will utilize peer reviewed medical literature to determine the effects of a treatment.

  If a waiver is due to expire but the medical condition preventing an officer from meeting readiness requirements persists, the officer is responsible for uploading a new medical waiver request with updated provider documentation and medical waiver request form for consideration of a new waiver.  For more information, please contact Medical Affairs at: PHSMACCHQ@hhs.gov

  Last Updated: 01/22/24
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